Senator Jeanette F. Reibman

March 12, 2006|The Morning Call

Senator Jeanette F. Reibman, 90, of Kirkland Village, formerly of Easton, died Saturday, March 11, 2006 in the Inpatient Hospice Unit at Lehigh Valley Hospital, Allentown. Born August 18, 1915 in Fort Wayne, Indiana, she was a daughter of the late Meir and Pearl Schwartz Fichman. She was a Pennsylvania state senator from 1966 until retiring in 1994. Prior to that, she was in private practice in Fort Wayne; an attorney for the U.S. War Department, Washington, 1940-42; on the U.S. War Production Broad, from 1942-44; and a member of the House of Representatives, 1956-66. While in the Senate, she was chair of the Committee of Education, from 1971 until 1981, Minority Chair, 1981-1990 and Majority Caucus Administrator, from 1992-94. She received her AB from Hunter College in 1937, her law degree from Indiana University in 1940 and her LLD from Lafayette College in 1969. She also received honorary degrees from Lehigh University, Wilson College, Cedar Crest College and Moravian College. She was accepted in the Bar in 1940 and received U.S. Supreme Court Certification in 1944. She was a member of the Education Commission of the States; Sigma Delta Tau; Delta Kappa Gamma; Phi Delta Kappa and Order of the Eastern Star. She was a member of the Temple Covenant of Peace, Easton, and Hadassah, receiving the Myrtle Wreath Award in 1976. She received the Distinguished Daughter of Pennsylvania Award and medal from the Governor of Pennsylvania in 1968; an administration building on the campus of Stroudsburg University was named after her in 1972, as well as the early childhood learning center at Northampton Community College in 1992. She received a Public Service Award from the Pennsylvania Psychological Association in 1977 and the Jerusalem City of Peace Award from the Government of Israel in 1977. She was named to the Hunter College Alumni Hall of Fame in 1974 and University of Indiana Alumni Fellow in 1993. She was a trustee emerita, Lafayette College; a board member of the Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency; the Pennsylvania Council on Arts, and Camphill Schools. She was a member of the board of the former Forks of the Delaware United Fund; Northampton County Family Counseling Service; Lehigh Valley Hospital Planning Commission; Delaware Area Council of the Boy Scouts of America, receiving a Distinguished Citizen Award from the Minsi Trail Council; Pennsylvania Library Association; board of trustees Lafayette College; St. Lukes Hospital and served on the Pennsylvania Jewish Coalition.

Survivors: Three sons, Attorney, Joseph M. of Allentown, Lehigh County Judge Edward D. of Emmaus, Dr. James E. Lafayette College Professor of Allentown; four grandchildren, Rachel, Abigail, Samuel and Sarah. She was predeceased by her husband of 62 years, Attorney Nathan L. Reibman, in August 2005, and by four brothers.